Beadle's Dime Library No. 204 — page 25: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ee | — oo _ ee —EE — - — scouts would arrive too late tosave the young squaw on the San Miguel. With fhis conviction came the thought that she might be the means of saving Maggie Moore from the merciless Comanches; and as Maggie had, on more than one occasion be- friended her, Warnona was eager to do all in her power, even at the risk of her life to rescue the Rose of the San Miguel. Warnona stole back to the spot where she had ieft George Adler, but to her great con- cern he was not to be found. His sombrero lay on the river bank, and the fair squaw at first thought he had fallen into the stream, but she soon found that this was not the case, upon discovering that bis horse was gone also, She bad secured the mustang herself, and knew that it was impossibla for the animal to have gotten loose. Water Warrior had vanished, and it was impossible to follow his trail until daylight; when it would probably be useless to do so, as she had no doubt he would be killed or captured before sunrise, as his reckless manner proved that, upon seeing his friends captives to the Comanches, he would again ex- pose himself in the same way that he did when he first came within sight of them. However, she bad but little idea that he would be able to discover them, as it was a very difficult feat to ford the river at this point. Mounting her mustang, Warnona urged the anima! up the stream some distance, then ford- ed it ata point half-way between the Comanche war-party and the bandit camp, and where she could observe the screen of bushes in which the Tidians were concealed. As she came up, she was startled by a series of wild yells of rage, from up the stream, and she gazed out toward the west, and over the plain, along the border of the timber. But a moment did she look, when she was again surprised by seeing four white men gallop their steeds frantica!ly from the bottom, and then urge them in her direc- tion, keeping near the cover of the trees, Warnona now remembered having seen four horsemen speeding over the plain toward the point where she felt sure the bad white men and Mexicans under Capitan Caramba were encamped, That these men were in league with the ban- dits she felt sure; therefore when she realized that they were about to ride into the very camp of the Comanches, she felt no desire to warn them. On the contrary, she was rejoiced that some of the enemies of Water Warrior and her other white friends would be put out of the way from further troubling them. As the four men came opposite her covert, the young squaw saw that they were pale as death, having been apparently greatly fright- ened by the yells in the camp from which they had just come, and which now sounded from the north plain, proving that the bandits were going east, cither in search of the men before her or the captives she had seen in the power of the Comanches. ‘The yells, however, soon ceased, and all became still again. As the quartette came toward Warnona, all at times glancing over their shoulders in terror, she saw Water Warrior spur bis horse in ter- rific bounds from the bushes to the west of her, directly in their path. That George Adler was now insane from the blow his head had received on the Medina, the Icss of blood, and his terrible anxiety of mind, Warnona had no longer a doubt; indeed she had feared it, when she struggled to prevent him from rushing among the Comanches, and now surely no sane man would have attacked a party of four armed horsemen, unless he courted death, But Warnona had no desire to expose herself to the view of the Indians down the stream; so she was forced to witness the encounter, without giving aid to her white brother, who, she felt, would be killed. It required all her strong will power to con- trol herself; but surprises were not at an end, ' for as George Adler dashed toward the four men he drew his knife, and singling out one of the number, spurred his horse directly against the animal, nearly hurling both to the earth by the shock, Grasping the man by the throat, George, with alook of insane desperation that was ter- rible to witness, pointed bis knife down the river, as his glassy eyes became fixed upon the companions of his captive. , Filled with horror, but none of them dariag to draw weapon, for they saw the butt of two revolvers projecting from the holsters at the saddle-horn of the maniac, the trio dashed EO ee Big Foot Wallace. madly down the stream, leaving their comrade to his death. A loud peal of laughter sounded from the throat of George Adler, us his grip tightened; and as his hoise bounded forward, Ames was forced backward upon bis animal, his eyes protruding and bis upturned face filed with horror and dread, George Adler, with insane cunning, slipped one arm through his bridle rein, and at the same instant his captive slid over the tail of his beast; the crazed avenger flung himself from his saddle directly upon the half-strangled plotter, without relinquishing his torturing grip at his throat. Quickly clutching the revolvers and knife of Frank Ames, George threw them out of reach in the long grass, and then, with a peal of ex- ultant laughter, he jerked his captive to hi3 feet with a strength that was born of madness, and forced him toward and into the cover of the underbrush. Warnona was so amazed at all this, that she sat still in utter bewilderment, much relieved, however, when she saw that Water Warrior had succeeded in securing his enemy, witbout barm to himself. « Tois was a new kind of warfare to the squaw, and she was puzzled to know why her white friend had not, having the advantage of a surprise, shot more of his enemies; for she supposed that if one of the party was his foe, they all must be so. Like all of her race, she was not willing to interfere with, or even approach her friend, now that he was undoubtediy insane, The Great Spirit had laid His band upon the head of Water Warrior, and this being so, she must avoid him. However, Warnona was not left long to meditate upon the mental condition of her white brother, for a thought of the other three men suddenly flashed upon her mind, connect- ing them with the deadly danger they were unconsciously galloping to meet down the river, and she glanced quickly in tbat direc- tion, just in time to see a line of painted Comanches dash+eadlong from ths dirk shades of the bottom timber, directly into the path of the three fugitives. ; She saw the glint of arrows in the moon- light. She heard a series of agonizing shrieks and cries. Then, white and red vanished in the dark timber of the San Miguel. CHAPTER XXII. BROTHER AND SISTER. WHEN Warnona saw that the companions of the man who had been captured by Water Warrior had been dragged by the Comanches into the timb-r, she knew that they were doomed, and she then turned her attention to the little thicket to the north of her, into which ber unfortunate white friend had jerked his quaking, terrified captive. Making her way stealthily through the bushes, the young squaw soon reached a point where, unobserved, she could witness the pro- ceedings of George Adler, but with which she had no intention of interfering; for she felt assured that the stranger had, at some time, greatly wronged Water Warrior, or the latter would not have shown such intense hatred and desire for revenge, at a time, too, when he was driven to desperate madness, principally by the knowledge that his friends and his promised wife were in the power of the Co- manches. As Warnona peered through the branches, she saw that her white brother had bound his captive fast to a tree, and that the face of the latter was stamped with the most abject ter- ror and dread, for there was no mercy in the glassy orbs that now gazed vengefully into his. With one quick wrench, George Adler tore the clothing from the neck to the waist of Frank Ames, baring the white breast of the latter, who was speechless and hopeless, as the bright steel flashed in the moonlight before his eyes, and held in the vise-like grip of his maniac captor. Thus they stood in the silent forest; one, dumb through deathly fear, the other, from wounds and a tortured heart and brain. One, bent on murder, the other, paralyzed, with a prayer for mercy trembling on his pallid lips —a prayer that he sought to call up from = ve chamber, unspoken since his child- ood. Piercing and vengeful was the glance of the eye that met his, showing no more mercy than TL LT 25 glittered in the deadly uplifted steel, which seemed to be delayed in air only to torture the breast into which it was to be buried; but, as the firm hand that held the biade was drawn back to give more force to the blow, there sounded from down the river, a chorus of heart-rending shrieks of agony and horror, ending in unearthly sounds that seemed im- possible to have proceeded from either man, beast, or bird. George Adler whirled in his tracks, his hands were pressed hard upon his forehead, and his eyes protruded from their sockets, as he stared into the deep gloom surrounding him, and listened to the dread sounds from down the river. It appeared to Warnona that there was a faint impression in the brain of Water Warrior that pointed toward his captured friends, con- necting the latter with the fearful cries which had just reacbed bim; but that he could not col- lect his wandering thoughts from labyrinthian trails, and arrive at a conclusion sufficiently clear to guide him to action. She was the more positive that this was the case, when she saw him sink listlessly to the earth, where he sat still silent, his forehead clasped tightly by both bands, his eyes closed, and apparently endeavoring to solve the mystery of his condi- tion, seemingly forgetful of his captive, who with a deep-drawn sigh of relief, wrenched at his bonds, in a vain attempt to free himself from them. Warnona’s great wish was that her white friend would not at present recover his normal senses, as she felt sure he would immediately sacrifice his life in an attempt to rescue that old man and the beautiful maiden from the Comanches. The wild war-whoops and rattle of fire-arms which soon followed the dread cries, which Warnona knew proceeded from _ tortured whites, simply caused her white brother to lift bis head for a moment, his hands being pressed tightly over bis temples; but, soon after, when the dull tramp of many horses came to ber from the plain, she noticed that Water Warrior braced himself, and crawled upon hands and knees through the bushes toward the edge of the timber, whence he could gaze out over the plain. The squaw followed, taking a parallel course, and also looked out at the same time, casting a glance now and then toward George Adler, who seemed incapable of motion from the time he first caught a glimpse of the moonlit plain, or rather, of the parties who were now passing over the same toward the north. Much to the relief of Warnona, she saw that the gray-haired man and the two maidens, who had been in the wagon, and were the friends of Water Warrior, were still alive, they baving been bound to horses, amid a horde of Coman- ches, who were fresh from torturing the three men, and from battling with foes whom she supposed to be the bandits, and now passed up the river, stopping just opposite her covert to wave their lances in exultation to 4 party of horsemen down the stream. The squaw was now certain that the fight, the sounds of which she had heard, had oc- curred between the bad white men and Comanches, and she also knew that the latter bad been the victors. But Warnona was now most concerned in regard to Water Warrior who, she feared, would dash out from the bushes, on seeing bis friends among the hos- tiles; but she was most agreeably disappointed, for George Adler seemed to be unable to sepa- rate the real scene before him from the many like scenes, which were flitting through his now fever disordered brain. The defiant manner of the small war-party, who seemed to be not at all afraid of an equal number, proved conclusively to the squaw that there must be a larger force near at hand; and she decided that the Comanches, who had raided the ranch of Pcst Oak Bill, were now secreted in the timber, not far from the spot where George Adler was crouched. These thoughts led Warnona to think of Wild Wolf and the scouts; and, if ber pre- vious reasonings were correct, she felt sure that they were now galloping to the rescue of Maggie Moore, if the latter had not been killed by the savages at the ranch. Paying no more attention to George Adler, she glided swiftly up the river, passed the out- law camp, which was in great confusion, and then proceeding in a more stealthy manner, soon found herself in the vicinity of the main war-party of Comanches. The Waco squaw JOO Gomme “S ’ (E(@)